The Private Equity Digital Transformation Show (general)

Our guest Daniel Young is Senior Manager of Product Standards at Toshiba America and is part of Toshiba’s global Digital Innovation Team that is focused on accelerating the growth of Industrial IoT systems and developing best practices using industry standards.  In this episode, Daniel and Bruce discuss:

  • The benefits of eliminating (subjective) human judgement.
  • The unexpected but important HR benefits from improving defect inspection efficiency.
  • Applicable use cases and industries for this type of AI inspection.
  • The cost and time to implement an AI/machine learning inspection system.
  • Different tech architecture options to implement machine learning inspection within the manufacturing facility.
  • The role of inspection and AI standards.

 

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: daniel_y_edit_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Solo episode with Bruce Sinclair, the host of the show, discussing the first step in smart digital diligence that’s used as a quick triage step before getting company specific to determine if a company is a good fit for smart digital transformation.  Sector, business type, maturity level and market dynamics all play into this step.  Once the theory is known, the Smart Tech Value Creation Quiz on the homepage of digitaloperatingpartners.com can be used to give any company a smart grade.  In this episode, Bruce discusses:

  • What is digital and what is smart?
  • What is a smart company and how do you create a smart company?
  • Why make a company smart in the first place?
  • Which sectors are best?
  • Which types of revenue generating businesses are best?
  • How old should a company be?
  • How dynamic should the company’s market be?

 

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: bruce_s_4_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Solo episode with Bruce Sinclair, the host of the show, discussing how to unlock value and potentially disrupt industries with the five core data-driven business models within the Smart Business Model Continuum.  Data-driven business models are created by transforming legacy business models with smart tech such as the internet of things and artificial intelligence.  In this episode, Bruce discusses:

  • The Product data-driven business model.
  • The Product-Service data-driven business model.
  • The Service data-driven business model.
  • The Service-Outcome data-driven business model.
  • The Outcome data-driven business model.
  • The data-driven business model as a feature.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: bruce_s_3_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Solo episode with Bruce Sinclair, the host of the show, discussing data-driven business model development and its fundamental importance in smart digital transformation.  Bruce will discuss how the business models on the Smart Business Model Continuum reduce monetization friction and produce a proprietary competitive advantage.  In this episode, Bruce discusses:

  • Why business model innovation is as important or more important than product or service innovation.
  • The difference between B2C and B2B smart business models.
  • Monetization friction.
  • The Smart Business Model Continuum.

Related links you may find useful:

 

Direct download: bruce_s_2_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Solo episode with Bruce Sinclair, the host of the show, discussing the confusion around what the term digital transformation means.  Bruce will dissect the term into its three tech layers and relate each to the company stage where it creates the most value.  In this episode, Bruce discusses:

  • The true meaning of digital transformation.
  • The three tech layers of digital transformation and what they are.
  • The biggest money-maker: smart digital transformation.
  • The difference between smart digital transformation and digital transformation.
  • The smart digital transformation stack.
  • The tech layer with the most impact at the three maturity stages of a company.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: bruce_s_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Our guest Manny Bernabe is the founder and CEO of bigplasma ai – which specializes in AI for Industry 4.0 applications and connected products.  Manny has had roles ranging from data scientist at an AI unicorn start-up to investment analyst at a global financial services firm.  In this episode, Manny and Bruce discuss:

  • Various AI and stats techniques.
  • Different AI techniques to make predictions.
  • Picking the right AI models and why simple is often more important than complex.
  • The importance of “data” in data science, especially for commercialization.
  • The three steps to implementing AI within your smart product or process (Industrie 4.0)
  • A medical device case study.
  • The time and cost to deploy AI within your smart product or process.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: manny_b_edit_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Our guest David Westrom is responsible for global business development at MachineMetrics and has led business development organizations and driven strategy at three IIoT start-ups that experienced successful exits, including most recently ThingWorx, that was acquired by PTC.

In this episode, Dave and Bruce discuss:

  • Digitally transforming discreet manufacturing operations to start a continuous improvement program.
  • Digital improvements for high volume/low mix versus low volume/high mix manufacturing.
  • Expanding data collection from machines to machines, people and business systems.
  • How the scope of data collection is related to the overall value generated.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: dave_w_edit_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Our guest Scott Cunningham is a blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast who explores the ways these technologies are used and shares his thoughts with his audience across many platforms.

In this episode, Scott and Bruce discuss:

  • The different cryptocurrencies and how to live the “crypto life”.
  • How consensus models are changing to enable more efficiency in blockchain.
  • The shift from a proof of work to a proof of stake consensus model.
  • Enterprise use cases for blockchain.
  • What smart contracts are and some of the ways to use them in business.
  • Identity management with NFTs for humans and inorganic objects.
  • NFTs and the framework for thinking about using them in the physical world.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: scott_c_edit_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Our guest Vipul Parekh is a Senior Director with Alvarez & Marsal Digital and Technology Services where he advises clients about investing in new and emerging technologies such as Blockchain, IoT, Robotic Process Automation, and Machine Learning.

In this episode, Vipul and Bruce discuss:

  • Evaluating the risk profile of emerging technology by considering scaling and integration needs.
  • Using data to drive technology, people and processes.
  • Data ownership and accountability best practices.
  • The digital twin and data governance systems.
  • The digital twin and master data management systems.
  • Data architecture and management differences for IoT-based data.

Related links you may find useful:

Direct download: vipul_p_edit_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT

Our guests Rolland Donin and Hendrik Nieweg partner on digital transformation projects.  Roland is the founder of IHRS-Training, a consultancy for agile methods and digital transformation, and Hendrik is VP of Solutions at the German IoT specialist, Device Insight, which helps companies with the development of complex IoT-based digital transformation projects.

In this episode, Rolland, Hendrik and Bruce discuss:

  • The definition of Industrie 4.0 vs IoT vs digital transformation.
  • The difference between IIoT and smart product development.
  • The relationship between IoT and digital transformation and why Bruce changed the name of his podcast.
  • The “Three As” that must be present at the beginning of every digital transformation.
  • Not falling into the gold plating trap.
  • Using the edge for data culling.
  • The two steps that precede machine learning.
  • Quantifying the value created and costs incurred in case studies about smart coffee vending machines and smart electronic components.

Related links you may find useful:

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Direct download: rolland_and_hendrik_edit2_mixdown-A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am PDT